


Like a Stray Cat

by singswithtrees



Category: Girl Genius (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Drabble, Gen, Girl Genius Event Week, girl genius event week 2k19 day 1 challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 10:35:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20946926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singswithtrees/pseuds/singswithtrees
Summary: The Girl Genius Events group on Tumblr is having an event week, and this is my response for the first prompt!  This happens somewhere in the Coffee Shop AU featured in ROXANNE!.  Dimo's been absent for a few weeks, and nobody quite knows what he's been up to.





	Like a Stray Cat

Something was off about the busker’s usual swagger when he came into the cafe after being absent for several weeks. Ognian tried to put his metaphorical finger on just what it was as he unloaded a tray of piping hot croissants from the oven. Dimo came in right in the middle of the morning rush, and it was hard to keep his eyes on one specific person when several college students were vying for Oggie’s attention. He continued to muse as he rang up one customer after another, and Dimo faded into the background as he sat himself down at a side table. 

Was he limping? Oggie was pretty certain that he was limping. Not a lot, not so much as you’d notice, but he seemed to be shifting his weight to favor his right leg. Was he looking scruffier than normal? It was hard to say. How scruffy was too scruffy when you shopped at the cheapest of secondhand and military surplus stores, and cultivated that scruffiness as your Look? If only he’d take the hoodie off, or at least push the hood back, so that the baker could more fully see his face…

And then he did, and Ognian winced. Dimo’s lip was swollen and scabbed over, and though the bruising was on its way out, he’d definitely had a black eye recently. The opposite temple featured a small series of recent stitches. Despite it, he was wearing his usual cocky grin, and seemed in good spirits. When the crowd died down, Dimo made his way over to the counter, and ordered his usual coffee.

Every ounce of parental concern that the baker had lost patience and came out at once. “What the hell happened to you?” As Dimo shrugged and began to answer, Ognian sighed and shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.” He opened the little swinging door that separated the kitchen from the public area, and grabbed a protesting Dimo by the lapel, pulling him into the tiny break room, and sitting him down in one of the two folding chairs. Out came the first aid kit. “You need cleaning up,” Oggie said firmly. “Maxim’s shift starts in 45 minutes.”


End file.
